KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Things have changed just a bit since the summer of 1983 when 18-year-old Allen Wright headed to his first training camp working as an equipment manager for the Chiefs.
“The size of the staff probably is the biggest part of it,” said Wright, who on Wednesday supervised the packing for the 40th training camp road trip of his career. “We have grown, I think, if my memory serves, we had 75 full-time employees in the 80s. And I think now we have somewhere around 300.”
And it falls on the shoulder of Wright to make sure everyone who makes the trip to St. Joseph the summer, including 91 players and 30 coaches, has what they need. There are approximately another 150 employees who make the trip including general manager Brett Veach’s staff, the athletic training team, media production staff, the communications department and other administrative personnel necessary to run the camp.
“We take basically everything a coach or player would need from the moment they get there,” Wright detailed, “from all the sleds and cleats and shoulder pads and helmets, but then toiletries and underwear and socks. We’re a one-stop shop and not having something is not an option. So we bring it all.”
On Wednesday morning, Wright’s staff of seven equipment managers and a couple dozen moving professionals from Fry Wagner started the process of loading up the convoy of nine semi-trailers required to take the Chiefs on the road.
“It takes a small army to get us moved up there but over the core of our tenure, we’ve kind of figured out how to do it and we have a lot of checklists and we communicate a lot,” Wright said. Hopefully, we get up there, we have everything.”
On Tuesday, Wright marked his 40th anniversary as a Chiefs employee. He’s worked for the organization his entire adult life.
“I don’t know that I can put it into words,” he said. “I mean, this organization has literally given me everything I have in this world. I’m very grateful for that.
“I think anytime somebody puts a number on it like that, you know, in our deal, we’re looking forward every single day, you know, starting today, we’re going forward and we’re seven days a week over Christmas, Thanksgiving, you really don’t take time to reflect. And so, you know, when that hit me yesterday, it was surprising.”
Wright started his job working with the Chiefs less than two weeks following the tragic death of running back Joe Delaney in 1983. He’s taken the team on the road to Liberty, Missouri and River Falls, Wisconsin along with one staycation training camp at the team’s complex in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the years he’s seen plenty of wins and losses, coaches and players come and go, but the team’s success over the last five seasons has only sweetened his memories.
“There’s no question because for all of us Chiefs fans, even though I work here, I’m still a fan at heart,” Wright explained. “God bless those years we got our hearts broke so many times. And there were some coaches, people in there that deserved to win Super Bowls, and I can go on and on about certain individuals. We thought maybe we were snake bit, we weren’t going to get it done.”
Successes and disappointments have dotted the path Wright carved out during the past 40 years but there’s one constant that keeps him on his toes. It’s the players who have largely helped Wright maintain his vim and vigor while feeling like the young man he was when he joined the organization 40 years ago.
“In that environment, you try to stay young,” he said. “I probably dress a little too young, I drive a car a little too young but you know you’re in the locker room with all these great kids and you want to fit in. You don’t want to be the old guy out of place.
“It’s a great atmosphere, it keeps you young, I’m 58 years old. Sometimes I forget. I feel like I’m 26.”
Wright knows he has much fewer training camps in his future than he has in the rearview mirror. He plans to stick around for at least two more seasons. “You know, I’m scared if I slow down I’ll stop,” he said.
“To now have two (Super Bowls) and to know that any game you go to you got an opportunity to win if it’s on the road or at home, whatever opponent, is a great feeling,” he said. “And a great way for this to kind of end for me at the end of my tenure.”
For now, however, he relishes what he gets to do this summer – “We get to take a world champion organization an hour and 10 minutes straight north.”
